Sports

Champions League Final: Man City, Inter Set For Showdown

Published

2 years ago

June 10, 2023

34 Views

Manchester City and Inter Milan clash in Saturday’s Champions League final in Istanbul with the English side, under Pep Guardiola, strongly fancied to win European club football’s biggest prize for the first time.

The match at the 75,000-seat Ataturk Olympic Stadium, kicks off at 10:00 pm (1900 GMT) in the Turkish metropolis and brings the curtain down on a season that has stretched almost into mid-June after the long interruption for the World Cup.

City have spent the last decade chasing this trophy having been transformed following an Abu Dhabi-backed takeover in 2008.

Also-rans before Sheikh Mansour arrived, they are now England’s dominant force, fresh from winning a fifth Premier League title in six seasons.

Guardiola, chasing the third Champions League crown of his coaching career, has built a side that is playing arguably the finest football of any team since his great Barcelona of a decade ago.

Now they are through to their second Champions League final in three seasons, two years after losing to Chelsea in Porto, and are hoping to complete a treble after securing the Premier League and FA Cup.

The last English team to win that treble was Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, in 1999.

“We have been good in this competition, but we just need to find a way to win the first one,” said Kevin De Bruyne on Friday.

“If we do it, it would obviously be immense for the players, for the club, and for the fans it would be something amazing.”

City’s rise has been made possible by the investment from the Abu Dhabi United Group, which led to them generating the biggest revenues in world football in 2022 of 731 million euros ($787m).

Question marks surround their success, given City were charged in February by the Premier League with 115 alleged breaches of its financial rules between 2009 and 2018.

In Europe, meanwhile, City were banned for two years from UEFA competitions in February 2020 for “serious financial fair-play breaches”, although that sanction was later overturned.

Irresistible Force

City have become an almost irresistible force. They brushed aside RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the knockout rounds and have lost just once in 27 matches.

The goals of Erling Haaland — 52 in all competitions — have elevated them to another level, along with Guardiola’s decision to turn centre-back John Stones into a midfielder.

Inter, while one of Europe’s grand old names, should not be able to compete with City when you look at their finances.

The Nerazzurri have enormous debts and their income for last year was under half that of City.

However, they emerged from their group ahead of Barcelona before beating Porto, their first victory in a Champions League knockout tie since 2011.

They then saw off Benfica and AC Milan to reach the final. They have won 11 of their last 12 games and recently retained the Coppa Italia.

“We understand what they are as a team,” De Bruyne said.

“They defend incredibly well. We don’t expect it to be an open game. That doesn’t happen a lot in a final anyway.”

Having reached their first Champions League final since lifting the trophy for the third time in their history in 2010, Inter are in to win it.

“We know we have a great opportunity to write a new page in the history of our club,” said coach Simone Inzaghi.

More Ataturk Drama?

Inzaghi has a settled side, with a grizzled three-man defence, a classy midfield, flying wing-backs in Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco, and Lautaro Martinez alongside veteran ex-City striker Edin Dzeko up front.

Both sides should be at full strength, with Kyle Walker set to start for City after missing training earlier this week.

It is Inter’s sixth European Cup final, but just their second in 51 years.

City’s only European trophy to date came in 1970, when they won the Cup Winners’ Cup, beating Poland’s Gornik Zabrze 2-1 in the final.

That match was not shown on British television due to a clash with the FA Cup final replay the same night.

A huge global audience will watch Saturday’s showdown, for which both clubs were officially allocated around 20,000 tickets.

It is the second Champions League final held at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, situated on the European side of the Bosphorus, 25 kilometres from central Istanbul.

Liverpool triumphed here in 2005, recovering from a three-goal deficit against Milan to draw 3-3 before winning on penalties.

AFP

Related Topics:Final Inter Milan MAN City

Up Next

Former heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua wants new opponent for August 12

Don't Miss

French Clubs interested in Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo’s Transfer

Click to comment

Sports

Chelsea thrash PSG 3-0 to win FIFA Club World Cup

Palmer opened the scoring midway through the first half and struck again to make it two on the half-hour mark, before taking advantage of passive defending to set up Joao Pedro for the third on 43 minutes.

Published

2 days ago

July 14, 2025

OhiBaba

18 Views

Chelsea’s players celebrate with the trophy during the award ceremony for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Champions, following the final football match between England’s Chelsea and France’s Paris Saint-Germain at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP).

Cole Palmer scored two goals and made another as Chelsea stunned Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the Club World Cup on Sunday, beating the European champions 3-0 at the MetLife Stadium to win the first edition of FIFA’s new competition.

PSG were the favourites for a game attended by Donald Trump after coming to the United States fresh from winning the UEFA Champions League and having destroyed Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-finals.

But having been three goals ahead midway through the first half in the semis, this time the roles were reversed as PSG found themselves 3-0 down by the break.

A bad day for PSG was summed up when Joao Neves was shown red following a VAR review four minutes from the end for pulling Marc Cucurella by the hair off the ball.

It was a scoreline that few could have predicted as Chelsea capped what has been a long but memorable season — they are the first ever winners of the 32-team Club World Cup having also won the UEFA Conference League and finished fourth in the Premier League.

They will also take away around $125 million in prize money, meaning the prospect of a drastically curtailed summer break before returning for next season will surely feel worth it.

For PSG, meanwhile, the financial rewards are similar but there will be genuine disappointment at falling short of adding this title to their Champions League triumph and French league and cup double.

Nevertheless, conquering Europe was always the main aim this season for Luis Enrique’s team, who now have exactly a month to digest this and take a holiday before returning to action in the UEFA Super Cup against Tottenham Hotspur.

Sports

Roll Calls of 20 Flying Eagles in Ghana for WAFU B U20 Tournament

Goalkeepers: Ifeanyi Ebenezer Harcourt (Sporting Lagos); Clinton Andy (Bayelsa United)

Published

7 days ago

July 9, 2025

OhiBaba

53 Views

Goalkeepers: Ifeanyi Ebenezer Harcourt (Sporting Lagos); Clinton Andy (Bayelsa United)

Defenders: Abba Khalid Sadiq (Niger Tornadoes); Odinaka Okoro (Sporting Lagos); Daniel Bameyi (Bayelsa United); Akinniran Oluwashile (Water FC); Ahmed Akinyele (Remo Stars); Marvelous Freedom (Ikorodu City)

Midfielders: Divine Oliseh (Forster Academy); Bidemi Amole (Real Sapphire FC); Tahir Maigana (Wireless FC); Ezekiel Kpangu (Inspire Academy); Rawa Mohammed (Beyond Limits); Matthew Kingsley (Kings FC); Abduljelil Kamaldeen (Kwara Football Academy); Shafiu Adamu Duguri (Wikki Tourists).

Forwards: Abdullahi Muhammed (Kwara United); Godday Otalyul-Imbus (Calabar Rovers); Imrana Muhammad (Mavlon FC); Qudus Olayiwola (P Sport FC).: Abdullahi Muhammed (Kwara United); Godday Otalyul-Imbus (Calabar Rovers); Imrana Muhammad (Mavlon FC); Qudus Olayiwola (P Sport FC).

Sports

Flying Eagles set for WAFU B U20 challenge in Accra

The WAFU B competition is scheduled for 10th to 23rd July at the Prampram Centre in Accra.

Published

7 days ago

July 9, 2025

OhiBaba

52 Views

Nigeria’s U20 Boys, Flying Eagles have commenced training sessions in the Ghanaian capital, Accra ahead of the kick-off of this year’s WAFU B U20 Boys Tournament.

The WAFU B competition is scheduled for 10th to 23rd July at the Prampram Centre in Accra.

Head Coach Aliyu Zubairu has picked captain Daniel Bameyi and 19 other players, with a scoop from the group that finished third at the Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Egypt two months ago and thus qualified to represent Africa at the FIFA U20 World Cup finals in Chile later this year.

Goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt is a prominent figure from that mosaic, alongside defender Odinaka Okoro, and midfielders Bidemi Amole, Ezekiel Kpangu, Divine Oliseh and Tahir Maigana.

A number of new birds have birthed, including Bayelsa United goalkeeper Clinton Andy, defenders Abba Sadiq and Marvelous Freedom, midfielder Abduljelil Kamaldeen, and forwards Imrana Muhammad and Qudus Olayiwola.

Nigeria, winners of the last two editions of the WAFU B U20 Championships (hosted by Niger Republic and Togo respectively), will take on hosts Ghana in the opening match of Group A on Thursday, from 3pm on Thursday, 10th July.

The Flying Eagles will then clash with Benin Republic on Sunday, 13th July in a three-team Group A.

Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger Republic and Togo make up Group B, with the Ivorians and the Burkinabes clashing in the group’s first match tomorrow, July 10th .